The Nightmare Before Looking Glass Wars
by McGeesJabberwock
Summary: Upon learning about the existence of another, more utopian Wonderland, the Jabberwock wants its Alice to kill his Alice. However, this lands him in a surreal adventure.
1. Prologue

**Note: **This is an AU fic. It chooses a different path for American McGee's Alice to follow, and is an alternate follow-up to the first Looking Glass Wars book, so the events of Seeing Redd never happened in this continuity. This story also links in with the 'Courage's Adventures in Wonderlands' by me, Chris Gammon and CrazyCTCDFan, which you can find on Chris Gammon's profile or in the Cartoon X-Overs category.

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_It has been over a year since Alyss ascended to the throne of Wonderland and restored peace and White Imagination to the world once more. The sparkling crystal buildings, the turquoise amphitheatres, the wondrous Wondertropolis were rebuilt, tarty tarts, jollyjellies and gummywads were once again available for consumption and life returned to what could be called 'normal'. However, the citizens still lived in dread._

_Wondertropolis was to receive one of its greatest threats ever, in a form far more twisted and frightening than anything Redd dare dream of._

_Anyone who thought _that_ Wonderland was the 'real Wonderland' was in for a rude awakening._

* * *

Boys and girls of every age,  
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?  
Come to a world where madness runs free,  
The Wonderland of American McGee...

This is American McGee!  
This is American McGee!  
Creatures lurk throughout the dark!  
This is American McGee, it's full of insanity,  
Hell'll seem like a walk in the park!

It's our land!  
Won't you stay for tea?  
In this land of American McGee...

I am the Cat with the giant smile,  
I'll make this visit worth your while!

I'm the White Rabbit, I'm always late,  
But I can't remember the date!

This is American McGee, This is American McGee,  
It's debris, it's debris, it's debris, it's debris!

In this land, we call home,  
Everyone hail to the madness song!

In this land,  
Isn't it so weird?  
Everyone's waiting for some more madness!

Round that corner someone is gonna get you,  
Don't look behind that rock, or you'll

_**SCREAM!  
**_This is American McGee!

Red and black and blood that's green!

Aren't you scared?

Well that's just fine!  
Say it once, say it twice,  
Gonna roll that demon dice,  
Use deadly weapons in the dead of night!

There's insanity, there's insanity,  
In this land of American McGee!

I am the one known as Tweedledum,  
My brother'll smash you with his bum!

I am the demon that'll make you flee,  
When I holler just like a banshee!

I am the one who will fix this land,  
That girl's death will be so grand!

This is American McGee, This is American McGee,  
It's debris, it's debris, it's debris, it's debris!

Little children everywhere, with more madness than they can bear,  
These mad children can run so free, in this land of American McGee,

In this land,  
Isn't it so weird?  
Everyone's waiting for some more madness!

Oh little Alice is filled with so much malice,  
She is going to come here and make them all **_SCREAM!_**

This is American McGee!  
Hail the Red Queen!  
Would you please keep watch for a very special girl?

That girl Alice will,  
Destroy the palace,  
If they don't find her and tear her to pieces!

This is American McGee, This is American McGee,  
It's debris, it's debris, it's debris, it's debris!

In this land, we call home,  
Everyone hail to the madness song!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The Jabberwock flew across the crimson sky, his wings stretched out in a way that made him look like a mutant eagle, wind he could not feel blowing harshly in his face. He looked down and surveyed the landscape which he called home. He saw never-ending oceans of glowing orange lava bubbling furiously, and crumbling, grey, lifeless land. He glided softly onto a rock and began to walk towards his destination.

The castle seemed to burst from the ground like the hand of an imprisoned giant, creating a somewhat triumphant shadow against the red skies and the gravestone clouds. As he stared upon the demonic building with pride, the dragon soon came across a crowd of playing card soldiers. Spades in a row, clubs in a row, diamonds in a row, hearts in a row. Small devils raising pitchforks in the air surrounded them, each performing a strange parody of a dance. Even some small insects – ants, ladybirds and a centipede – were watching the castle impatiently.

The castle began to tremble. It shook slowly, slowly, then faster, faster until it erupted like a volcano. However, it wasn't lava that erupted from _this_ volcano…

The Red Queen burst out of the castle, raising her thorny arms in the air. She rode a giant pulsating tentacle as if it were a giant horse, looking at the crowd with brimstone eyes peering through a harlequin mask.

"Citizens of Wonderland, lend me your ears!"

The playing cards raised their weapons in reverence, the demons danced quicker and the Jabberwock just stared at the Queen like a small child would stare at his favourite person in the world.

"I am here to remind you that the _enemy _is fast approaching."

Each of the congregation let out vicious cries of anger, except for the demons, who just giggled with glee.

"Remind me, dear subjects, remind me who this enemy is!"

The subjects screamed louder. "Alice!"

"Alice!" repeated the Queen, "She created us, so she can _destroy _us! She is supposed to be our _God _yet she gives only vengeance and no blessings!"

She pointed to the Jabberwock, her pride and joy.

"Look at this poor creature! Alice created him, not to nurture him but so he can die and so his death would be celebrated! Then, when Wonderland became the nightmare you see here, she resurrected him, just so she can torture him further! She made him an unnatural beast of metal and steam! But now he fights beside us and will destroy Alice's tyranny once and for all!"

The crowd yelled frantically again.

"We will kill Alice! And when we do, I will take her place! I will transform Wonderland into an eternal utopia, with everlasting peace for everyone! But, in order to gain peace, we must prepare for _war_!"

The gates of the castle burst open, as a marching band of playing cards, with piccolos, drums and trumpets began playing the Queen's anthem as the playing card warriors used their weapons to shoot strange beams into the air, creating a display of explosions and myriad colours, each contributing to a series of images in the sky. Alice. Alice's intestines being ripped out. Alice exploding. Alice being decapitated, of course.

The Jabberwock took a few moments to stare into the sky and gaze at these vivid images, the perfect representaton of what he thought about each and every day. Alice. That wretched, miserable little girl. Die.

After the display, which had sent the little devils into a hyperactive frenzy, the Jabberwock took flight once again, deeper into the realms of lava and brimstone which any human would find intoxicating, to his house.

The house.

It should have looked innocent, plain and ordinary. However, that task seemed impossible, due to the fact that it stood atop a twisted mountain overlooking an ocean of magma, from which creatures and abominations emerged. Not only that, but because it was Alice's house.

A perfect reconstruction of the house Alice once had before she burnt it to the ground so her parents can die and she could poison and destroy this land. The Jabberwock found it rather handy; as much as he hated to dwell on the subject of Alice, he needed to. When the inevitable time came when they would meet face to face, he not only wanted her to die by his hands, he wanted her to suffer while he did so. Did Alice ever think of what trouble, what strife, what suffering she had caused the denizens of this world? What it felt like? Just because they were figments of her imagination, she thought she could manipulate and torture them to her heart's content without any consequences. She even sent herself insane to further this.

She created the Jabberwock, but was not his mother. He was born without a purpose, except, perhaps, to amuse. All children enjoy tales where the hero slays a ferocious dragon. That's it. He was just meant to die. Then he rose. Resurrected as a hideous form, broken parts of a creature haphazardly connected with machinery. Resurrected wasn't even an accurate word; he wasn't alive at all. He couldn't taste, he couldn't smell, he couldn't touch. An unnatural monstrosity, meant only to be loathed and depised.

The Red Queen. She was the Jabberwock's hope and salvation. She promised that if he killed Alice, she would help him. She would grant him freedom, and his form would be magnificent. Gone would be the mechanical pieces of his body, replaced by flesh and blood. The Queen of Hearts. Heart. A heart would be lovely. Beating behind a ribcage, 'Ba-thump, ba-thump'. He constantly heard the sound ringing through his ears, a siren song beckoning him, and a lament of loss.

All of a sudden, the Jabberwock had a sudden urge to leave his lair; he wanted to observe the scenery.

He beat his wings quickly, and the orange sky of his homeland dissolved into pitch-black, the only illumination present being the slimy yellow moon. All of this could be beautiful. All of this could be idyllic. The thorns sprouting from the ground, curling and twisting themselves into knots. The mushrooms - which should look lovely and ethereal - withered and decayed; they looked like gravestones. A gorge, which looked like a mouth with long, jagged teeth. It could be beautiful.

How could you do this, Alice? Is this a sort of sick pleasure?

"Hur hur. Hur hur."

Tweedle Dee, out collecting something for that damn Hatter.

"What you doing out here?"

The Jabberwock growled as tendrils of smoke wafted through his nostrils. "That is none of your concern."

"Hur hur. The boss told me 'bout you. Said you're always goin' aroun' feelin' sorry for yourself, moping 'bout Alice."

"She is our enemy. She destroyed this land and must be destroyed herself."

"Hur. Maybe you're in love wit her and perhaps denying it."

The Jabberwock let out a roar that almost blew the oaf away. "Tell the Hatter not to get his slimy hands on her. I am the harbinger of her destruction."

Tweedle Dee rolled his eyes and walked away. The Jabberwock then leaned against a bent tree and sighed. Was he the only one who understood these things? The Hatter sad he didn't want Alice to die. Wanted to 'improve' her, he said. He was only making things worse; his plans to turn Wonderland into a clockwork 'paradise' seemed nothing short of demented.

Everything here was going to pot. However, there was absolutely no chance of things getting any worse, was there?

A man in a cloak stood by with a book.

"Who are you?"

"My dear Jabberwock," said the man, eyes being the only visible part of his face behind the hood, "Both you and I know that you and _only_ you are destined to be this Wonderland's saviour. However, there is only one path to this destiny, and that is through Wonderlands other than your own."

"Other Wonderlands? I'm not sure I believe you." This statement was obvious from the fiery look in the Jabberwock's eyes.

The man handed the book over in a surprisingly calm way. "Just read the first spell from this book."

The Jabberwock, although full of skepticism, did as he was told, read a page of nonsensical words aloud, causing a key to drop out of the book and a glowing white trail to illuminate the sky.

"Interesting reaction," said the Jabberwock, amazed by the sparkling trail, "but what does it _mean_?"

The man sighed. "It means you have to follow the trail."

_Follow the white rabbit._

He frantically beat his wings, following the trail, all the while asking himself questions on what these new Wonderlands would be like. They could only be better, can't they? There's nothing worse than this squalid pit.

The trail ended at a forest. Thick, grey clouds clotted the sky. The trees resembled emaciated old hags, trying to claw his guts out. Giant dying mushrooms bent and drooped.

The trail ended at a certain tree, a thick one. There were those children, the manic, deformed, demented children that ran rampant, clawing at it, as if something sacred were within. They saw the Jabberwock, and ran.

The tree, it had a strange marking on it. It was that damn Cheshire Cat, a picture of his head on that tree, a thick lock on his cheek. The Jabberwock ignored the marking of the miserable feline, and turned the key.

Sunshine burst through.

Sunshine, oh, _oh_, the glorious rays beamed down upon his body, the picturesque forest that lied beyond the portal, things he had longed to experience to the point of _insanity_.

He closed the Cheshire Cat door behind him, ignoring the beauty of the forest for just one minute, he read the book for further information. While the spell lasts, he will visit the other Wonderlands in an invisible form. These other Wonderlands, they must be accessible through trees, and their door, their door should be a reflection. Thus, using this logic, he tried to deduce which door is best to take.

One tree had a door that looked like a smiling black rodent with oversized ears. Ugh. It was just disturbing.

Another door was shaped like a crown, labeled 'Hallmark', which the Jabberwock just found nonsensical.

Another tree had a door that looks like a smiling teddy bear with a heart on its breast. The Jabberwock loathed teddy bears. Alice had one of those toys; the images of her snuggling up with something cuddly made him want to murder himself.

Another door.

That one was _special_.

A door made of crystal, a circle with card symbols, one that glimmered brilliantly in the sunlight, one that sparkled with a regal innocence that beckoned the Jabberwock to come. His claw took on a life of its own, forcing its owner to unlock this door.

He unlocked the door.

He turned the knob.

He found himself zooming through a spinning crystal tunnel.

He was in an ocean, yet could not drown.

He searched for the Wonderland the door promised.

He could see it.

Heaven.

He saw shimmering crystal buildings climbing towards the air, he saw large turquoise amphitheatres, he saw fantastic foods that he could never taste and he saw the centerpiece of the marvelous feast; a gigantic crystal heart, measuring ten-metres tall and sixteen-metres wide. And a castle, oh a beautiful palace, a palace as gleaming and beautiful as the door that led him here, with towers that twisted and turned in ways pleasing to the eye. And there was a party! A big celebration with singing flowers and a giant choir and a cake and these little things that looked like penguins with old man's heads. And children are at the celebration, children wearing glorious clothes and running around playfully, no clamps or exposed brains or maniac gibbering.

He saw this Wonderland's queen.

"She's beautiful."

He said it aloud, but, due to the magic he was practising, could not be heard. The Queen was an utter angel, a heavenly aura surrounding her as she walked, a flowing golden dress wrapped around her voluptuous body. She was surrounded by several people, each of them praising her and worshipping her, as she…as she conjured things out of her imagination.

The Jabberwock tried to cling onto this world, he wanted to stay, he wanted to be seen, but the magnificent world melted away quickly, leaving the poor beast back in his burning abode. Away from the crystal and wonder and back into the hellish realm of the dancing flame people.

There was the cloaked man.

"I see we enjoyed ourselves then."

"Do you know anything about that place? That woman?"

"Ah, yes, her name is Alyss. That's with a Y-S-S at the end." A woman with a name almost like his sworn nemesis…how could she be so enchanting? Why wasn't _she_ his Alice? "Your other friends are there too, you know." The man wiggled his fingers, creating an illusion of a legion of zombies, a sight so disturbing the Jabberwock actually felt cold in spite of the climate of his home. The Hatter appeared; it was the Hatter and yet it was not. He had similar headwear, but his nose was much smaller, and he looked more human. With an impressive, action-packed display, this new Hatter destroyed the undead monsters in the blink of an eye. This was a hero. He defeated and did away with the forces of evil. He didn't add gears or machinery to defenceless little creatures, he didn't destroy the structure of organic creatures so they could never taste food or feel the wind blowing in their faces ever again.

"I must know more. Tell me more."

"Once upon a time," said the man, taking a seat on a pile of bricks, "there was a magical kingdom called Wonderland, and it had been taken over by an evil witch." The man conjured up another vision, this time of a tall, thin, _red_ woman, snarling viciously with long black fangs, and saliva dripping off her lips. "But a beautiful princess named Alyss came and defeated her." An artificial Alyss fought the witch…with her imagination. Conjuring up weaponry and missiles all meant to contribute to the villainesses' destruction. The climax wasn't shown. "She then became Wonderland's most beloved Queen and everybody loved her because she was so kind and thoughtful." The Jabberwock felt a tingle of excitement. If – _when_ he succeeds in his quest, everybody will love him. No longer a fearful monster but a kind and loving saviour.

"But there was a sad and lonely monster from another kingdom, which shared the name of Alyss'." The Jabberwock smiled a hopeful smile. "The monster said 'There is another evil witch that has destroyed my homeland, and she is your evil twin sister'. Alyss defeated the witch…"

The vision of Alyss approached the Jabberwock.

"…and restored order to the sad creature's kingdom."

This wasn't an artificial construct…she was real. Concrete. She _felt_ real.

"'Thank you!' said the monster…"

She _felt_. The gears, the furnace, all his mechanical parts were all vanished and e was completely organic once more. 'Ba-thump, ba-thump'. His new heart was pounding against his ribcage as Alyss came closer and rubbed against his face.

"…then he kissed Alyss…"

Then he kissed Alyss. She _felt _warm.

"…and he turned into a handsome prince."

Gone. Alyss wasn't real after all. He was still a cyborg. He didn't _feel_ anything.

So, was it all a dream? Did he imagine that beautiful crystal Wonderland? Did he imagine seeing his worst enemies in more admirable forms?

No. It wasn't a dream. It was all too vivid, too brilliant, t was beyond anyting e could imagine.

The book. It's there. It couldn't have been a dream.

He knew what he had to do.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_I had hoped you would rebuild the Millinery."_

"_And I will, my Queen. Upon my return to active duty." _

Those words hammered in Hatter's head constantly, getting louder every beat. _Now_ was the time to return to active duty.

He had inexplicably found himself, weapons included, lying on a cold stone table shaped like a playing card. This place, it felt like Wonderland, only…not. The walls seemed to be made out of frogspawn and the air was alive with the sound of morbid giggling and massive gusts of steam.

The portrait.

He stared at a grim portrait on the wall, depicting what seemed to be a dark caricature of himself, a grey creature with eyes like pearls, surrounded by strange black vines.

Were there children walking all over the portrait?

Wait, is the portrait on the wall, or is it on the _floor_?

Hatter Madigan leapt off the table onto the portrait, still unable to decide whether he was on the wall or the floor, which caused the children to take notice of him. The children crawled towards Hatter and began grabbing him and pulling onto his coat, as if they worshipped him.

These children…these children…their eyes were sown open, their brains were exposed, they had nothing to wear but baggy trousers…

Hatter Madigan struck them onto the floor with a single swipe, causing them to wiggle around the floor like cats being tickled on their underbellies. Hatter ignored them, instead turning his attention towards the huge green creature standing over him.

"Hatter Madigan!"

Hatter snarled. "What do you want?"

"I have brought you here…"

Hatter unleashed a wrist-blade. "Why?"

"I have brought you here so you can destroy your doppelganger and help me overthrow Alice…"

Doppelganger? Alyss? This was one of Redd's creatures to be sure! Hatter threw his top hat, which quickly unfolded into a circle of blades, at the mechanical being, and sure enough, the blades hit it right in the face. However, this draconic creature wasn't hurt at all; it pulled out the hat, tossed it back and flew away. Not a drop of blood.

Hatter shrugged and, curious about what this place may hold, made his way down a corridor, where the walls were all mirrors…looking glasses…

"The Looking Glass Maze?"

This was ridiculous. Hatter was not a monarch. He wasn't a king. He was merely the leader of the Royal Millinery. He shouldn't have a Looking Glass Maze test…

One of the mirrors shattered instantly as a small bronze robot burst out, blowing furious steam at Hatter Madigan. Hatter whipped out a blade from his wrist, twirled around like a ballet dancer, and decapitated the robotic being. Hatter clutched his hat in his hands, with a strong feeling that the weapon will be required very soon.

Another wall shattered, this time revealing a gigantic hunchback wearing a propeller beanie.

"Hur hur. Hur hur."

Hatter clutched his hat tighter.

"You're funny lookin', you are."

Hatter slowly lifted his hat in the air.

"Dee! You idiot!"

A smaller version of the hunchback appeared, albeit with a straighter back, waving his arms frantically.

"What are ya playin' at, Dee? I think this guy's the boss!"

Hatter slowly let his hat drop to his hip.

"Dum, what makes you think this 'ere wacko is our boss?"

"Well, look at 'is 'at! Only the boss wears a 'at like that!"

"But 'e looks nothing like the boss! The boss is old and ugly!"

"This could be another one of 'is experiments! He could 'ave made 'imself younger somehow, using them robotic thingamajigs!"

Hatter gave Dee and Dum a stern look. "What are you talking about?"

The two similar creatures looked back at Hatter. "Yer the boss, aren't yer?"

Hatter narrowed his eyes. "My name is Hatter Madigan. I oversee the Millinery in Wonderland."

Dee and Dum burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Listen to this guy, Dum, it's like I told yer, he's right bonkers."

"What's all this about a Millinery then?"

Hatter raised his hat in the air more rapidly then before.

"Let's bring this nut-job to the _real _boss, shall we, Dee?"

Both Dee and Dum split in half like Russian dolls, allowing miniature versions of themselves to escape from their stomachs.

Hatter Madigan dropped his hat.

"General Doppelganger?"

The clones grabbed him by the arms.

"Hur hur hur. Now 'e thinks we're General Doppel-whatever."

"The boss will 'ave such fun with 'im, won't 'e?"

Hatter Madigan was dragged across the floor, through labyrinthine staircases, through stone passageways, through more halls of mirrors, until he reached a room made of metal, where the decorations were gears, operating an unseen machine, as if he were iun the workings of a clock.

"Ah, good work, boys."

In the middle of the room stood what looked a robotic scarecrow, only with an elderly human head attached atop. The most noticeable feature about the monster, however, was its hat. The hat must have been at least two feet tall, with a chess-board pattern and arcane symbols littering each square.

The gangly beast pointed an artificial finger to his henchman's prisoner. "And who might _you _be?"

"I…I am…Hatter Madigan…"

The creature's eyes bulged. "Say that again."

"I am Hatter Madigan."

"Again!"

"I am Hatter…"

"**_LIES!_**" The beast stomped his foot and slugged Hatter in the face.

"_I _am the one true Hatter. I am the only one worthy of the name. I am _perfect._ Are you?"

Out from the sleeves of the loose-fitting strait-jacket the Hatter wore, a small spider crawled out in a way that reminded Hatter Madigan of the cannonball spiders of his world. However, this spider moved in a more…_dreamlike _way towards Hatter, as its legs dug deep into his skull…

"My Queen…I failed you…"

"You're a failure! You failed! I, on the other hand, am the embodiment of perfection! To compare yourself to me would be to compare a mustard seed to the universe!" The Hatter whacked Hatter in the face once more. "Dum! Dee! Take our guest to the operating room!"

The Jabberwock watched from above. He flew off the ceiling and through an open window as the Hatter, Hatter and the two henchmen made their way to the operating room. He had a strong urge to intervene, to save Hatter's life, to be a hero, but…no. Right now, he _feared_ Hatter, even more so than his monstrous counterpart. But what about Alyss?

He flew over the Caterpillar's Plot, a favourite haunt of his, hoping to find some time to relax and recover, but then…a girl by a rock, fingering a knife?

Chocolate-brown hair, blue dress, green eyes, white apron.

Could it be?

The Jabberwock hid behind a pile of rocks and listened to her – the one who had caused him so much trouble and pain – talk to a shadowed figure. He could have just jumped out and fried his foe to a crisp right there and then, but he felt inclined to listen.

"An endgame with the Red Queen is possible only after you crush her sentinel – the vile, fiercilious and vengeful Jabberwock. Without the Staff that bears his name, destroying him is the hopeless work of a wasted life."

Alice had no qualms about killing the Jabberwock. In fact, she sounded rather excited to do it, not something Alyss would ever do.

The Jabberwock silently retreated away, with the unbearable itch of a missed opportunity. He kept telling himself though – it has to be Alyss and only Alyss who murders his most hated foe.

He returned back to his humble abode and smashed a window with his fist. It didn't bleed. **HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! DIE YOU MISERABLE SCUM DIE!**

The Hatter…him and Alice have conspired together. Perhaps it was to torment him further or maybe Alice wanted to be immortal through the Hatter's machinery.

_Alyss lay in a ditch with a knife in her heart._

If her loyal royal bodyguard can be defeated by the horrors and nightmares of this world, why not Alyss? She will die, the Queen will die and the Jabberwock will be forced to live this way forever.

No, I need Alyss here I need her she's nice and beautiful I know what it is I just dropped Hatter in willy-nilly yes yes yes I'm so smart I must encourage Alyss to fight yes the man he said so prove it beautiful kind evil fire **BURN ALICE BURN** I must kill Alice long live Alyss bring her here

Bring her here.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hello Alyss.

Are you Alyss?

Yes, yes you are. I'd recognize your face anywhere.

Step into the light.

Move a little closer.

No, I know that's fire. It's meant to be.

This is Wonderland.

It's not yours. It's much worse.

There exists an Alice. Not an Alyss, an Alice.

Alice.

Remember when Dodgson promised to record your history faithfully? Remember waiting four long years for your history to be published and revealed to the world? Now remember your disappointment. When you picked up that book and saw what he thought of your adventure. Dodgson thought you were lying, that you were making up funny little stories to entertain adults. He mocked your tales and everyone you were acquainted with. He ruined your life.

And his book has formed the basis for this world.

This other Alice, is a monster, a tyrant, a vicious villainous creature worse than Queen Redd could ever _hope _to be. She made an entire world for the sole purpose of torturing its inhabitants. She recreated your world in her own image to spite you.

What about your royal tutor Bibwit Harte? He was paraded around as a sort of court jester for a while, laughed at and tortured for fun, until he was shrunk to the size of an ant and was flattened and killed.

General Doppelganger, the commander of the Royal Army, has been bifurcated into two jabbering oafs, who cause pain and suffering wherever they go, seeking to please only their evil desires.

You royal bodyguard is in grave danger. He has been kidnapped by his counterpart in this Wonderland, and I can only imagine what's being done to him.

And me? I am forced to live life as an artificial being, placed here only to be **_RUTHLESSLY MONTROUSLY TORTURED AND TORMENTED UNTIL THE END OF TIME._**

Try using your imagination.

Oh dear. Your imaginative powers are restricted here.

Here.

Take my eye.

Kill Alice. Doing so will transform our world into a utopia not unlike yours. We'll have crystal buildings and turquoise amphitheatres. We'll have jollyjellies, gummywads and tarty tarts. We'll probably even have a heart crystal.

Alice is here to torment us further.

Kill her.

Your Wonderland isn't he only Wonderland that needs you.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The Red King stood by with his subjects in tow, crumpling his wrinkled face and tapping his behind with his sceptre. The White Queen struggled helplessly, her arms and legs held tightly by thick leather straps. She felt a strong sense of dread as the stench of the king's breath clenched tightly to her nose, and his cold fingers drummed along her back.

"Any last requests?" The Red King smirked, stroking his rough stubble.

"I…" The blade came down.

Alice watched. Another in a constant series of reminders. Her fingers were pressed closely against the panes of glass, watching those despicable red monsters murder for the sake of murdering. She wanted to break these panes and shove her knife right into the King's forehead. For a minute, she grinned as she imagined the thick, red blood emitting from the monarch.

Alyss watched. The strange Jabberwock, the thing with the furnace where guts should be, was telling the truth. She was being mocked right there and then. The Queen being executed, she looked so much like Genevieve, dear sweet mother, that it wasn't funny. She had to endure that horrific coup twice, one time more was just sadistic.

She held the eye in her hand as if it were a stress ball. She could already see her counterpart in this world, staring through a window. Her presence brought Alyss deep chills in her body, yet, at the same time, made her blood boil with anger.

**BOOM.**

Alyss fell over backwards as a fierce explosion interrupted the execution, and a strange gangly creature leapt down from a roof of a nearby building. It shot a bullet out of its finger and shattered a window – and Alice leapt out.

"Ah, my dear, I've been growing impatient."

Alice shrugged. "I was expecting to meet you much later."

The Red King and his subjects made their way off the round and prepared to retaliate, when they were all attacked by another creature the Hatter had brought.

"Well, Alice, I'm quite the wizard, don't you agree?"

The mechanical monstrosity reared towards Alice, its human head staring at her with pale, emotionless eyes. It reached towards her with one of its arms, which had a thin blade on the end. Alice leapt over the robots attack just to avoid it shooting blades out of its mouth. It leapt to the air, continually throwing star-like metal weapons at Alice. One of the blades swept by her arm, causing a thick cut.

"You'll pay for that, you…"

She threw her own blade at the creature, right in the mechanical stomach, causing sparks to fly everywhere and fade away. With its last act, the creature threw its organic head at Alice.

It exploded and set her flying against a wall.

"Well, Alice, ready to give up?"

"I'll…never…I'll…save…"

A thick purple beam rushed towards the Hatter. Before he could get away from the sudden attack, the beam hit him right in the middle of his stomach, causing him to clench it in pain. Almost immediately, sparks flew off the Hatter as he was a miniature firework display. He screamed loudly in anguish and pain, raising his arms and clenching his fists in fury, until his head exploded and he fell to the floor.

Alice breathed deeply as she lifted herself off the floor and came face to face with her saviour.

A young woman with black hair.

"Who..are…"

The woman raised the Jabberwock's eye. It shot another thick, purple beam, this time at Alice.

"Die," was all she said to Alice.

Alice turned towards the stranger as she ran from the blast of energy. "What have I done?"

"You know very well what you did. You made a mockery out of me."

"I've never met you before in my life."

Alyss stomped her foot and shot another beam. "Well, how do you know about my Wonderland, then? Why did you make a mockery out of my bodyguard? _Why did you mock me when my parents had been killed by Redd?_"

"Your parents were killed?"

Alyss snarled, allowing a few tears to fall down her cheeks. "Yes."

Alice grabbed her knife tightly and raised it in the air. "How dare you…how…dare…you…"

She tried to lop off Alyss' head with a quick swipe, but she swiftly ducked and ran out of the way.

"_You're_ the one mocking _me_!" Alice had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying. "You have someone to_ blame_ for your parents murder!"

Alice raised her knife in the air and ran towards Alyss yelling angrily. Alyss raised the Jabberwock's eye and shot Alice backwards with a thick beam.

"You…little…wretch…_YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO HAVE YOUR PARENTS DIE WITHOUT SOME_ONE_ CAUSING IT!_"

Alice threw her knife at Alyss but she swiftly grabbed it.

"Shut up. You won't be gaining sympathy out of me."

"I'm not trying to be sympathetic. I'm merely stating why you should die and why I should live." Alice spoke more calmly but still had hot tears streaming down her face.

"You made fun of my glorious world. You mocked the source of all imagination. _Just like that stupid little book_."

"I've never heard of you, or this little world you speak of. Wonderland is mine and it's up to me to fix it."

Alyss shot another beam. "Liar! Liar! I'm going to do to you what I've been _wanting _to do to Dodgson!"

"What…"

"This is all your fault…"

"Uh…"

The Jabberwock hovered above, perching on a tower, eagerly watching the battle he had prepared with his one eye.

"This is all because of you, Alice! If you weren't such a _wretched little girl_, if you didn't enjoy torturing me, if you had saved your family from that house fire, all this could have been avoided."

"No! It's not my fault!"

The Jabberwock began laughing. To see Alice in this state, she who caused him all this trouble, she who transformed him into an unnatural abomination of God and man, it was…well…amusing.

"Why couldn't you have left us alone! Why couldn't you have had a normal life? Why can't you be a _good little girl_, like Alyss here?"

"I have no idea…"

Alyss clenched Alice by the neck.

"She mocked you…"

She raised Alice's knife.

"Just like Dodgson…"

Her hand shuddered.

"Just like Dodgson…just like Dodgson…"

She tried to plunge the knife into Alice's heart, but she had never killed before…she had never…

"**SHE MOCKED YOU JUST LIKE DODGSON**!"

Alyss closed her eyes and…

She killed her.

She killed her.

Yes, she killed her! And not even with the eye!

She began dancing around Alice's corpse in a somewhat tribal manner as she took the knife out of her heart and used it as a baton. She dipped her fingers into Alice's blood and tasted it; the taste was like adrenaline flooding her entire body, a taste more exhilarating then tarty tarts, the smell enriching.

But what were this images?

A family hugging each other and smiling…then bursting into flames?

A treasured book that was meant to bring happiness forever…bursting into flames?

Playing cards, chess and other funny games…bursting into flames?

People being burned, dying, flesh melting, bones?

Why did she _enjoy _seeing these images?


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Jabberwock took Alyss upon a cliff, that glowered over all of Wonderland. From up here, they saw barren wastelands, they saw jagged mountains that resembled witch's hats, they saw lifeless forests, they saw streams of lava bubbling, they saw pain.

Not for long.

Holding Alyss under his arm as if she were his daughter, he looked to see the Red Queen restore Wonderland. The wastelands would sprout grass and flowers of several varieties, they would see mountains become rolling hills, they would see forests teaming with life, the sound of birdsong and merriment filling the air, and they would see streams of cooling spring water. They would see permanent night grow into permanent summer days, with the sun always warming their bodies and never ever never ever a single cloud or drop of rain. Alyss would see this universe's surrogate of her tutor restored to life and living in a perfect world.

And also...

Both of them would watch as the Jabberwock becomes a more…appropriate being for this world as those mechanical appendages, the furnace for a stomach, the gears for intestines, the pipes sticking out of his back, his metal wings and tail…they would be gone. They would be replaced by flesh, bone, blood and organs. He would be a natural creature. He would be able to taste the cooling flavor of the water, he would be able to feel the sun warming my body, the leathery petals of the giant flowers, the thick bark of the trees, he would be able to breathe. He wouldn't shoot lasers or breathe fire, he would be a simple creature with no purpose but to enjoy this new Wonderland to its fullest.

Alyss would have to leave for her Wonderland, but he was sure she would pay constant visits, she would keep me company…she helped him save Wonderland.

So why wasn't it changing?

There was still lava. There were still wastelands. There were still death and pain.

Where were the flowers? Where was the sunshine? Where was the salvation and warmth the Red Queen promised?

The only thing that had changed there was the tentacle that had just sprang from the ground.

The tentacle that impaled Alyss.

The Jabberwock held his head in my hands and screamed.

She shouldn't die! She saved Wonderland! She made the Jabberwock natural!

But Wonderland wasn't saved. And he was still a synthetic abomination.

Wonderland shattered like a looking glass, pieces that were once a world falling into a black abyss like feathers.

Only he remained, standing on a hovering rock.

**Thank you Jabberwock.**

He heard her.

**You helped me _completely_ take over Wonderland.**

He saw her.

**But, truth be told, I've grown weary of _that_ Wonderland.**

The huge red blob stood before him wiggling its tentacles joyfully.

The Jabberwock did all this.

He ruined Alyss' Wonderland.

Alyss can't die! She's a good person! She fights for justice and a more peaceful kingdom! She's a beautiful creature! Good people aren't supposed to die!

He tried to force tears out of his eyes. Crying would ease the pain, wouldn't it? They never came. He was a machine. Machines don't cry. Machines only serve their masters' purposes.

**Tell me. Tell me about the _other_ Wonderland.**

He was left with no choice but to follow her orders. He revealed everything he had learned in my studies, the crystal cities, the foods, Alyss...everything...

**That other Wonderland needs someone to order imagination, it needs a Queen. It needs me. You had such a wonderful idea…**

Thus, they escaped from the abyss, and into what was once Alyss'.

"Ba-thump."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The Red Queen and the Jabberwock materialized from the abyss that had once been their world into a part of Alyss' world – the Volcanic Plains to be precise. The ash dancing in the air, the flames spouting from the grounds like geysers and the seething rivers of lava reminded them almost of the Land of Fire and Brimstone from their own Wonderland, yet, though neither could put their finger on why, it seemed unique, Alyss' own. For the ordinary Wonderlander, the air and heat of this region would be insufferable, too hot to breathe even, yet neither of the 'visitors' were human, and had been around much larger extremes of heat.

"Beatiful."

The Jabberwock gasped. "Why…"

"Yes, Jabberwock, I have chosen _not _to come here as a monstrous tentacle beast. As tempting as the idea of destroying this Wonderland's metropolises, the crystal buildings reduced to rubble under the fury of my tentacles, I have a much better idea.

"When you murdered Alice, you gave me control over her body. Since both creatures of imagination and reality can enter this realm, I have entered here with her body. Since her counterpart in this universe has the most powerful imagination, I do too.

"For too long have I ruled by fear. I want to be loved, respected, to be thought of as a wonderful creature."

In the Queen's current form, the Jabberwock was able to grab her and bring her to his face level. "You're _not_ Alyss!"

She grinned. "Destroy me and you destroy yourself. You are bound to me. As long as I remember you, you still exist." The Jabberwock slowly put her down. "And by the way, you're keeping those mechanical appendages."

"Why? _Why? _You're no better than that wretched little girl, you…"

The Queen didn't answer the Jabberwock's question; all she _did _was point at another beast, slowly emerging out of a cave. "Look, there's a playmate for you."

The Jabberwock turned away from the Queen, clenching his fists and attempting to suppress his anger.

"You stay here until I need you."

He turned around and saw her gone.

Traitor. Liar.

Traitor.

Liar.

The words kept repeating themselves in his head like a broken record. He had been waiting for Alice to meet her demise for so long, and yet everything he expected to come from it…his organic body, his new, beautiful home…

Traitor.

Liar.

The man. Traitor. Liar. You said that the Jabberwock would have a happy ending, he'd get the girl and be beloved by all. But Alyss is dead, her carcass is rotting in a bottomless pit, you never said that would happen.

Red Queen. You said you would save Wonderland. You said you would reward the Jabberwock for his undying loyalty. You gave him nothing he wanted, nothing he _prayed_ for. Just another Jabberwock, one that isn't much for conversation.

Traitor.

Liar.

And Jabberwock, what can be said about _you_?

Me?

Yes. Perhaps you deserve to be a robotic monster for the rest of your life. Were it not for your meddling and lack of common sense, Alyss and Hatter Madigan would still be alive. They're dead because of you.

The Jabberwock clenched his face with his claw. This was just a joke, his entire existence, his toils, his ambition were all being mocked and torn to pieces. He fell to the ground face first and just sighed. He wanted this to end, he wanted to crawl into a hole and just die. He had a strong urge to follow the Red Queen and end her fierce tirade, but was prevented by her earlier words and the slander he constantly heard hammering in his brain.

The Red Queen…

She's still a great saviour. Perhaps she wanted to do something good. Perhaps…she destroyed that past Wonderland because…it was beyond salvation, that this Wonderland is in need of more help…

And she brought him here because he wanted to come.

Then why did she leave him this way? An unfeeling, artificial_ thing_ that could not taste the tarty tarts or the jollyjellies, or feel the smooth crystal?

No, no, she had her reasons, perhaps it was better this way, perhaps there was some reason he was kept this way, there must be, yes, and she killed Alyss because, because, perhaps, she was_ better_ than Alyss, she was wiser and a better ruler…

No, she wasn't, she couldn't be.

Alyss was dead. She was the great ruler and she was dead. Killed by none other than her greatest admirer.

Alyss…I'm sorry…

The Jabberwock's train of thought is interrupted by his 'playmate' sniffing at him. He clawed it in the face and threw it down to the ground. He slit it across the neck, and let the thick blood dribble onto his fingers. Then it suffers his optic lasers until it died.

_"Jabberwock…"_

Her voice was a whisper, the soft breeze of the wind…

_"You still have a chance…"_

She appeared, bathed in a spectral golden aura. She looked like a fairy.

"I'm sorry."

_"Don't fool yourself. Your Red Queen has no good intentions."_

Yes no yes no yes no

_"You can stop her…you can be Wonderland's saviour…"_

How?

_"Just stay here."_

Then she vanished.

The Jabberwock just stood there with his eyebrow raised. What he saw just left more questions than it answered.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Alyss has returned!"

"The Queen has returned!"

"Long live the Queen!"

The Queen walked slowly, quietly and proudly as the many Wonderlanders heralded her return to their kingdom – and it was only for a few hours.

"Where's Hatter Madigan? What happened to Hatter Madigan?"

* * *

"Today, we have gathered here to mourn the loss of a great Millinery man."

The Queen stood behind a podium as she addressed miserable and forlorn Wonderlanders holding their heads down low in honour and remembrance of the great Hatter Madigan. A Hereafter seed had been planted, creating the image of him in flowers. The centrepiece of the funeral, however, was a huge hologram image of the legend himself, trademark hat in hand, coat blowing rapidly and elegantly.

"Hatter Madigan was more than just a mere man, he was noble, he was brave, he would give his own life for me. We must also pity him for the fact that he suffered massive guilt after he failed to protect the life of my great mother, but he is to be honoured, for if it were not for him, I would not be here before you. For when I was exiled to the real world, when a cruel man mocked the fabric of this very world, when my imagination was stunted, he brought me back to defeat Queen Redd and liberate you all.

"And now he, who once protected me even if his own life was on the line, who dedicated every second to the fate of this world, is dead."

She looked into the crowd with a look of calm anger.

"He was killed."

The inspirational image of Hatter Madigan slowly transformed into something that made the audience gasp in terror. His fabled hat grew larger and became ridden with arcane symbols. His face elongated into the hideous face of a goblin. His Millinery coat, flapping like a sail, shrank into a blood-stained strait jacket. The monstrous visage grew larger and larger, until a fifty-foot giant towered over the attendants of the funeral, growling and grunting under its breath.

"He was killed…by himself.

"Yes, my loyal subjects, our Wonderland is not the only Wonderland. I knew of another Wonderland; it was a hostile hell-hole with screaming demons, fierce ghouls and murderous creatures. It is a grotesque parody of our beautiful kingdom…"

The giant Hatter disappeared and became myriad demons and ghouls; screaming banshees, dancing red devils with pitchforks, green lizards with bulging eyeballs, robots blowing steam in their faces.

"See what they did to Bibwit Harte."

The host of monsters faded away, leaving a small, frail rabbit with a top hat to materialise in front of the crowd. The rabbit was whipped, whacked in the face and strangled by unseen monsters, until his end was met by a giant foot.

The real Bibwit gulped in horror.

"And what of General Doppelganger?"

The dead rabbit became two drooling oafs in beanies, laughing to themselves, playing with rattles, and splitting into miniature clones of themselves.

"And who could have been in charge of such a nightmare?"

'General Doppelganger' faded into nothingness and was replaced with what many in the audience thought was the most nightmarish thing they had ever witnessed.

It looked so much like Alyss…but every feature of her had been twisted into something grim. A solemn, sinister expression on her face, a bloodstained apron with strange symbols and…

That dripping knife.

"She created that world to mock me and everyone that stands here. She cared nothing for us, myself or what we have all been through; she just wanted to make us figures of ridicule and horror. She brought me and Hatter Madigan to that mad world just to shove what she had accomplished in our faces…

"It was too late for Hatter, but I managed to destroy that Alice and that world entirely, except for one thing…"

A final hologram materialised. A huge dragon, breathing fire ferociously and blasting thin purple lasers from its blazing yellow eyes. A furnace roared were a stomach should be, with pipes releasing steam into the audience.

"This creature was born of that Wonderland and is right here, right now, seeking for prey to destroy and devour. Unfortunately, this creature has made itself immortal so defeating it will not be easy. However, I urge all of Wonderland's armies to find a way to capture and contain the creature, so we can put it on display in Wondertropolis as a reminder on what we are fighting for.."

As the visage of the reviled beast faded away, the entire crowd began yelling and screaming with hopes of revenge and retaliation.

General Doppelganger approached the Queen. "You should really take a rest. You let me and the royal army handle this. We will find the monster."

She smiled and left the funeral.

"Oh, those sentimental fools…"

Everybody who came to the funeral left, except Bibwit, who remained in his seat, holding his stomach in disgust.

"Oh…why would they do that to _me_? Oh…"

* * *

The Jabberwock lay in the land of the Volcanic Plains, listening to the flames bursting from rocky fissures, hoping that in some way the sound would soothe him in some way. It did nothing of the sort; it merely served as a constant reminder that he was in Alyss' Wonderland, and the only reason he was there was because a malevolent tyrant wanted to further her plans and two beacons of purity were dead and decaying. No…Alyss still believed in him, Alyss forgave him…Alyss stood before him.

_"Your first test is to begin."_

The Jabberwock cast a skeptical glare. "What do you mean?"

_"The royal Wonderland army is coming to capture you upon orders of the Queen…"_

Alyss' words faded into nothingness at that moment.

An image formed right in front of the Jabberwock's eyes. He lay in a large cage, chains clenching his appendages. He was weak, couldn't retaliate, couldn't breathe fire, couldn't shoot optic lasers, and couldn't break free. Wonderlanders crowded around the cage, laughing raucously, throwing rotten wondercrumpets and tarty tarts at the beast. He roared and tried to break free of his chains, but was jolted onto the floor, with the crowd laughing louder.

He wasn't a hero. He wasn't a saviour. He never regained his organic body. He stood before the Wonderlanders as a mere animal, a joke, a game.

All the while, the Queen stood there, smiling.

Then the Jabberwock lost control.

He no longer thought about what he was doing; he did things because he felt like doing them. He darted out of the Volcanic Plains – he ran, didn't fly – and into the Everlasting Forest. Trees howled in agony as they were sliced in half with a single swipe of the beast's claws. He roared and shot purple beams from his eyes…

…which immediately hit a chessman in his stomach, alerting the army of their prey's presence. They saw the mechanical monstrosity towering above dying trees and shrubs. That thing – that was what killed their leading Millinery man, that came from a sick alternate world that openly mocked the glory of theirs.

"To arms, men!" hollered General Doppelganger, before finding himself knocked backwards by the Jabberwock. "Get him, get him! For Hatter!"

An array of razor cards glided through the air, headed towards the Jabberwock… he spread his wings and soared into the air, evading the attacks. Cannonballs mutated into huge black spiders and sprung into the air, exploding so as to distract the beast. He flew back onto the ground, crushing several soldiers underneath his gigantic feet. Chessman an card soldiers flew into the air as they were flung by the dragon, who still roared and snarled furiously.

The army's rage increased, each member randomly firing building bombs in the Jabberwock's direction. He swooped into the air once again, breathing ferocious flames onto his unsuspecting victims.

He cackled in glee as he saw what were supposed to be great soldiers running around like headless chickens, roasting to a crisp, dropping the weapons they had intended for his defeat. The other soldiers tried to retaliate, but he just swiped back the razor cards, the cannonball spiders, even the building bombs, right back at them, before they suffered the beams from his eyes and his fire. He even picked up some of the soldiers and tore them right into two, letting their blood and entrails drip to the ground.

The one survivor was General Doppelganger who scurried back to the kingdom, the bearer of bad news feebly running away cowardly.

The Jabberwock let out a laugh that was sinister and joyful. That was so much fun, watching those poor little souls squeal as I delivered a slow painful death, as he showed himself to be…

Or is this what the Red Queen wanted?

His laughter dried up as he paid more attention to his surroundings. He saw dead and dying men on the ground, who probably had families awaiting them back home with smiles and open arms. He saw thick blood flooding a forest that was supposed to be beautiful. He saw trees, once jolly, talkative fellows, either silent with horror or ripped in two. He had caused all of this. He wasn't a glorious hero. He was what he was always meant to be. A murderer. A monster. A merciless demon that laughs boisterously when a measly creature dies in its hands.

He was a slave. He was a follower. He was a part of the Red Queen.

And what of Alyss? Maybe the test was _not_ to kill the army. Alyss would hate him, treat him like a monster like everyone else did.

No, she said he passed.

Yes, maybe he did good! Yes! Murdering those miserable soldiers was a way to strike fear into his enemy, letting her know he was not a force to be messed with.

Alyss handed him a crystal cube.

She says his next test was to begin.

All went still.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The next test.

The Jabberwock found staring at his reflection everywhere he looked; the walls, the floor, the ceiling were all mirrors, each reflecting every detail of his body. The makeshift wings, the furnace, the gears, the metal tail.

Or…

In one mirror, one that made up a wall, his reflection showed him what he wanted. He saw himself, only all the mechanical appendages had gone. Where there should have been a roaring furnace and exposed gears, he saw scales and flesh, and the wings, the tail, a rich green colour, without stitches or metal attachments.

"You!"

The reflection grabs him by the hand.

"Follow me!"

The reflection rapidly beat its wings and sent the Jabberwock soaring through hallway after hallway, each constructed exclusively of shimmering mirrors. As they passed one hallway, the reflection rose into the air, let go and sent the Jabberwock falling to the floor.

_"I went through this test to save Wonderland. Now it is your turn to navigate. Find the sceptre. Discover_ your_ power of imagination."_

Sceptre?

Why did he hear Alyss but not see her? Was she here?

"Die, foul monster!"

The Jabberwock swiftly turned around and right in a nearby mirror was that child, that blasted child, wielding that damnable Vorpal blade and waiting to strike.

Behind him stood Alice, holding _her_ blade tightly.

The Jabberwock screamed. "LEAVE ME ALONE YOU…"

She just smiled. She held in her other hand a severed head_, his_ severed head.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid you'll just have to die. And I have this boy to do the deed for me."

The boy stepped right out of the mirror, clenching his sword tightly.

"YOU'VE TORTURED ME FOR TOO LONG…"

He swiped at the boy with his tail and he fell right over on his back. The Jabberwock grabbed the Vorpal blade as the boy feebly tried to get up, and threw it over his shoulder.

"You really thought you had defeated me for good, hadn't you?"

The Jabberwock lifted up the boy from the ground and tossed him right at his usurper.

"You thought you could get away with it, didn't you? You two sent me through hell and expected me to leave you alone!"

The boy faded away, but Alice still stares.

"It's all your fault! You left your parents to perish in that blazing inferno! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE MADE ME INTO!"

She just smiled.

She faded away.

"Where are you? Come out this instant!"

He instantly became distracted by the sound of the swiping of blades.

Hatter Madigan emerged from another mirror, with the remains of an enemy behind him. He looked up at the Jabberwock with a stern, solemn gaze. The Jabberwock felt a chill down his spine.

"You…beast…you left me to die in the hands of that maniac…"

The Jabberwock kept silent.

Hatter grabbed his hat off his head and hurled it at the Jabberwock. It unfolded into what looked like a flat spider, with curved S-shaped blades, which glided swiftly through the air. It got stuck right in the beast's neck – but no blood bled. He felt no pain.

Yet he still feared Hatter.

"Give. Me. Back. My hat."

"Oh, hello."

Hatter's doppelganger also emerged from the mirror, his hat alone towering over the bladesman. Before Hatter can attack, his counterpart from another world grabbed him by the neck.

"You're still not perfect."

The Hatter clicked his fingers and Hatter's blades, weaponry and Millinery equipment instantly vanish. He then threw Hatter onto the ground as he was made unconscious with some strange gas emerging from the Hatter's chessboard hat.

The Jabberwock did nothing but stare.

"Ah, Jabberwock, you are made from the same machinations as I, yet you are still from perfect. Whatever shall I do?"

"SHUT UP!"

The Hatter just fired a bullet from his finger, which clouded the Jabberwock's vision. When the smoke clears from my eyes I see that miserable creature running away into the halls carrying Hatter, giggling to himself with glee.

"Bet you can't catch me! Bet you can't catch me!"

That stupid…that wretched…he thinks this is all a game.

No better than Alice.

The Jabberwock ran down the hallway, chasing the mechanical being, even as he dove into other mirrors, hoping to elude his pursuer.

Ha.

Swiftly glide through mirrors, claws outstretched, the Jabberwock followed the Hatter's every move, growing closer and closer towards him.

He had him right in his sights. The Hatter desperately searched for mirrors to climb through, but they all don't work…

"Think you can still catch me?" That smug little fool. "I've still got a few more tricks up my sleeve."

He clicked his fingers again.

"How wude! Some-wone inter-wupted my unbirthday party!"

What stood before the Jabberwock looked just like the Hatter in previous days, only with a nose like a sausage, green attire, black bushy eyebrows and haphazard white hair.

"What's wrong? Something seems to be troubling you!"

This annoying little creature was merely a distraction, as the Hatter darted away, still holding Hatter Madigan captive.

"Coward!"

"This is widiculous! Why would you bother chasing awound such an ugly thing like that?"

The Jabberwock roared, right in that little...thing's face.

"Well, I never…"

Grabbing the miniature nuisance by the neck, he tossed it in a mirror, causing shards of glass to pierce its pathetic body.

I'm coming back. You can't escape me.

As if almost on cue, the Hatter returned, just to sneer at his opponent.

"You can't catch me, you can't catch me."

The Jabberwock reached out for him as he ran down another corridor, escaping into a nearby mirror. Taking to the air, he furiously breathed flames and fired at the Hatter with his optic beams.

He fell over.

Yes.

After dropping to the ground, the Jabberwock approached the Hatter slowly, savouring every second…

"You really think you can defeat me, Jabberwock? It's like I said before, I'm perfect.

"And here, I'm even more perfect."

He clicked his fingers again.

"Oh goody, a friend to play with!"

Yet another Hatter appeared; it almost looked like the previous one, except for the white spots on its hat, its tomato nose, its bald head, its yellow coat.

"Hey, you know what?"

It grabbed the Jabberwock on the nose and made honking noises

"_That's_ what!" Then it let out the most irritating laugh the Jabberwock had ever heard.

The Hatter picked himself up off the floor, sneering. "In this maze, I have more power than I could have ever imagined, and I want to use all my new power on you.

"Not to _kill_ you, no, to annoy you."

That's what this all was, wasn't it?

Alice materialised in another mirror, no, she materialised in all the mirrors, and smiled. She just smiled.

"Alice!"

"Yes, Jabberwock. It's so much fun to annoy you. Why else would I let my parents roast?"

Each and every mirror suddenly flooded with fire, exposing fearsome flaming demons wanting nothing more to destroy every living being in its path. The figures of Alice's parents banged on the glass, screaming, begging for help.

I'll save you.

The Jabberwock banged on the glass, clawed it, hoped for an opening. He could save Alice's parents, yes, then everything will be good, everything will be nice.

No, no, there must be an opening, it can't be. Flesh melted, bulging watery eyeballs stared, bones, screams, cries for help that will never be heeded. The two Hatters did nothing to help.

"Forget it, you can't help her parents, they were _supposed_ to die. I could save them – if I wanted to. However, I find it entertaining."

The smaller Hatter exchanged his spotted hat for a small brown one. "Front page story! Confused Jabberwock Tortured by Visions of Burning Parents!"

"Quiet! Quiet! Leave me alone!"

Almost out of instinct, purple beams shot out of the Jabberwock's eyes again, right onto the shorter Hatter.

He exploded.

Blood and organs flew everywhere, staining the flaming mirrors.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you, my friend?"

The Jabberwock growled.

"Oh, don't think of doing it to me, I can't be killed here. However, if you enjoy murder, look right back at the mirror."

Alice's parents had died. In their place was Alyss. In their place was Hatter Madigan. In their place were General Doppelganger, Bibwit Harte and the soldiers I'LL SAVE YOU I'LL SAVE YOU no, they're trapped, they can't get out, someone please help them HELP THEM!

The Hatter smirked. "Forget it, you can't save them. You can't help them."

He disappeared.

The deathly images on the mirrors also faded away, replaced by another visage of Alice. She still smiled, and beneath her were those lunatic children from the Hatter's lair dancing around her like she was a totem pole.

"No-one's here to help you. **Not even your girlfriend**."

SHUT UP ALICE.

A clenched fist came down on the mirror, smashing it to pieces.

There stood a door, underneath a lighted sign reading 'EXIT'.

Alice. "Go on. Go through. It's only going to get worse."

The Hatter. "I knew you couldn't do it."

Sighing, the Jabberwock turned away from the exit and made his way deeper into the maze.

Then it disappeared.

He found himself falling into a deep black vortex (a rabbit hole?), unable to move his wings, or any other part of his body for that matter. As he fell down the vortex, he saw the insane children of his world rising, each making spastic movements, or trying to catch an imaginary fly or hitting themselves on the head or something else that made him want to scream MAKE IT STOP.

He fell right into a forest. A bright, sunny forest with flowers and blooming trees and green grass.

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee waited.

"Come here, Jabberwocky."

"Yes, please do."

They pointed at a red chess piece sleeping under a tree.

"What do you think he's dreaming about, Jabberwocky?"

"Can you guess?"

"He's dreaming about you!"

"You're only a thing in his dreams."

"You ain't real, nohow."

"Contrariwise; if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."

Annoyed and disorientated, the Jabberwock tried to beat his wings and fly away, but they still wouldn't work. He tried to run, but as hard as he tried, he froze in place.

**Here, it takes all the running you can do to stay in one place. If you want to get somewhere else, you have to run at least twice as fast as that.**

Her.

Her wriggling, bulbous red body rose out of the ground, joyfully waving her tentacles.

**You're still mine, Jabberwock.**

She grabs him with one of her tentacles.

**I am your Queen. Without me, you wouldn't even be here**.

She instantly vanished and Alyss, precious little Alyss, stood in her place.

**Destroy her.**

She looked so…innocent though.

**DESTROY HER**.

No.

The Queen roared. **I will not stand such defiance! DESTROY HER OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!**

"No!" Narrowing his eyes and sneering, the Jabberwock swiped at his Queen. Her skin unpeeled like a banana as another Queen emerged from her, with the same blazing eyes, the same jiggling tentacles, the same bulbous body. It whacked him to the ground with a single swipe of its tentacle.

Laughter echoed everywhere.

The two other Hatters – the white-haired one, the one with the tomato nose – stood there and laughed. Then they too multiplied, making their roaring, mocking laughter even more powerful. The white-haired Hatters threw cake, singing nonsense songs about unbirthdays.

"A very merry unbirthday! A very merry unbirthday! A very merry unbirthday to you!"

The tomato-nosed Hatters danced around, singing their own celebratory song; "You like hats? I'm mad about hats! You like hats? I'm mad about hats! You like hats? I'm mad about hats!"

Although irritated, a sadistic smile crossed the Jabberwock's face. He thought of murdering them all simultaneously, just to see their blood and entrails drip off his claws.

However, he chose to ignore their laughter, as they were merely there to distract him from the dual Queens – and what they held in their tentacles.

They held a huge, beating heart.

'Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.'

**You want this, don't you?**

**You want to have all your mechanical workings destroyed, replaced with more natural materials.**

He fired at them with his optic beams.

**You can't kill us.**

**But we can kill you.**

**And we can help you.**

**We can make you an organic being of flesh and blood, without a furnace or gears.**

**We can make you breathe. We can make you feel. We can make you taste.**

**And if there's anything else you want, we can give it to you. We can even make you human…**

Both of the monsters crouched down and stare at their victim.

They spoke in unison.

**All you have to do is bow before us. Then we'll give you what you want and never ask anything else of you. You'll never see us or have to worry about us again.**

The Jabberwock bit his lip and stood deathly still.

**Kneel.**

The skies burned a fierce red, the ground grew more barren, it becomes more like – home sweet home.

**KNEEL!**

The dual queens burst into flames in a way that almost made them look like volcanoes and wiggled their tentacles faster.

They'll give you what you want, you know.

She said that before.

SHE SAID THAT BEFORE.

_AND SHE LIED_

So he didn't kneel.

**Are you going to attack us? You know we can't die. You know you can't kill us.**

"WHY WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?"

They vanished.

A diamond-encrusted scepter with a gleaming white heart on the top floated in their place.

Hope washed over the Jabberwock. If he obtained this staff, it means he would have succeeded the test. He would gain Alyss' powers, he would become this Wonderland's saviour.

No longer a slave. No longer a follower. No longer a part of the Red Queen.

Just as the man said.

As his fingers clench the sceptre, he felt…

He _felt_.

Could it be? Yes, yes, it was. The machinery and the makeshift mechanical parts had vanished, and had been replaced with flesh and green scales that almost gleam. His wings were rough and leathery, stretched out proudly for all to see. His tail – majestic and overpowering, came to a tip that looked like an arrowhead.

He felt the cool breeze blowing in his face, he felt the ground beneath my feet, he felt traces of saliva in my mouth, he felt…

Yes.

'Ba-thump. Ba-thump.'

A heart. It beat under his new ribcage, pumping blood around his veins. He cut myself slightly with a claw, and a small amount of black blood trickled down his arm.

A belly laugh escaped his mouth, a chuckle of celebration. He was an organic, living, breathing creature again, not to mention the fact that he had gained imaginative ability. The laughter grew more raucous and jovial, until it dwindled down into a series of consecutive sobs. Slouching down upon a rock, he buried his head in his arms, feeling fresh tears dribble down his cheeks, wiping them away with his claws.

* * *

"My queen, my queen!"

The Queen arose from her throne as General Doppelganger ecstatically ran into the room.

"That monster…that vicious monster…he destroyed the whole army."

"No matter."

Doppelganger's eyes bulged upon hearing that statement. "What?"

The Queen smiled. "We wait."


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"You've kept me waiting, Jabberwock. Have you never heard that punctuality's a virtue?"

She stood in the ballroom, still in the guise of this Wonderland's queen. A cold smile of anticipation lit her face.

Just looking at her made him feel that he was being somewhat hasty about this. After acquiring the staff from the Looking Glass Maze and obtaining his organic body, he just went straight after her; he didn't practice my new found abilities at all.

But she, that despicable little wretch, must _perish_.

And the Heart Crystal, yes, the Heart Crystal, that should give him the necessary strength.

"How delightful. You've got a weapon that'll help destroy me, and you've undone the magick Alice cast on you."

He snarled. "Yes. I have freed myself from your bonds." His fists clenched tighter. "Now I am free to destroy you."

The Queen smirked wider. "Why are you doing this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you going to destroy me to save this Wonderland? So you can be just like that pretty little Alyss? Is it so you can absolve your sin; that you forced Alyss to fight for your sake, and she and her loyal bodyguard died horribly?" She let out a hysterical laugh, as if the fight was a joke to her. "You selfish, misbegotten and unnatural _child_! You fight for no-one but yourself. I'm not a tyrant. Destroying me won't improve this Wonderland in any way, shape or form. It will only serve to satisfy _your _bloodlust. The Looking Glass Maze is meant to be a way to defeat anger, not a way to increase it, you know."

"Quiet…"

"What was that?"

"**_I SAID SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!_**"

Diving quickly, the Jabberwock struck the Queen onto the ground with his claw and watched her fall face first to the ground.

She slowly lifted herself off the floor and scowled at him. "Off with his head."

Axes materialized in the air and cartwheeled towards the Jabberwock rapidly. He dove out of the way but one of the weapons ended up cutting him in the arm.

Oh precious blood.

"My turn."

He attempted to use his new imaginative powers for the first time, as he caused tentacles to rise from the ground and engulf the Queen; oh yes, how bitterly ironic, destroyed by what was one of your great weapons, no wait, she broke out DAMN DAMN DAMN.

"You really should have taken a few minutes to learn. Your imagination is still in its infacy. I'll even get you a tutor."

Bibwit Harte materialized into the ballroom. After seeing the beings the ballroom contained, his eyes rolled to the front of his head and he fell to the ground.

"It's all a joke to you, isn't it?"

The Queen got rid of Bibwit Harte and replaced him with another army, which begged the question of why she needed to take over the army this Wonderland had. The soldiers held weapons, yet they just stood still. They didn't attack, they didn't charge, they didn't contribute at all to the Queen's victory.

What?

"Don't you like seeing millions die right in front of your very eyes? Won't it be fun to murder all these soldiers, like you intend to murder me?"

The Jabberwock stared at her, then stared back at the faux army. "Who cares for you?" He brung them down with a single swipe of my claw. "You're nothing but a pack of cards." They were. They collapsed like men made of paper.

"I'm sick and tired of playing mind games with you. Are you are going to fight me or not?"

His long fingers tightened around her neck. Yes, yes! Suffer! As he slugged her in the face, he savored every moment, licking my lips in delight…

Then she shot roses into his eye.

IT HURTS.

She dropped gently to the ground like an umbrella.

"YOU…I'LL KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Calm yourself. I have the most powerful imagination in this world, and have combined it with the powers I have originally owned. Not to mention my working knowledge of what makes you tick. It'll take more than brute force to…"

"SHUT UP AND DIE!"

She raised her hands and more roses sprouted rapidly from them, wrapping around her opponent's arms like chains, the thorns digging deep into his skin…

"You got your wish, Jabberwock. You can feel pain. You're mortal. This is what you want, isn't it?"

Shuddering in fear, the Jabberwock howled in pain as the roses bit hard.

"Isn't it?"

He fell to the floor, doing nothing as the roses and their thorned vines squeezed tighter around his body, his bleeding body, and as more tears ran slowly down his eyes.

"I'm…going…to…kill…"

She raised her hands again, blasting a beam of white light in his face.

"I'll…kill…you…"

* * *

"Samuel!"

Isabelle looked down upon her frightened husband, crawling in the ripples of his bedsheet.

"What's wrong? Can I help you?"

He sighed. "I…I had a nightmare, where I was a monster and I was…"

She looked at him with undying attention. "Yes?"

He sighed. "No."

"Please tell me what's wrong. I want to help."

"You're not…you're not real! I know what you're doing!"

"Samuel! Calm down!"

"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just _fight me_?"

* * *

He regained his wings, his tail, everything that made him what he was.

"Fight me!"

Oh, she's become that bloated red monster again.

**What's wrong? I was actually giving you what you wanted.**

"You…"

He didn't retaliate or retort. He wanted to go back. To have a beautiful wife, to go back to that world, to live a _normal_ life…

**You didn't have the power to imagine it yourself, so I did it for you. It's Alice's fault you are unable to live a normal life, not mine. Alice is dead and it was through you she died, so you have no fight.**

Forgetting the utopia, the Jabberwock dove at her and let his claws dig into her gelatinous body. Feel pain, damn you. Each chunk of flesh he ripped from her _felt_ beautiful.

**Stop this.**

Coming from the hole where he tore off her flesh – a rotting corpse, no several of them, several reaching out towards their prey, screaming, touching, knocking him backwards against a wall.

The corpses escaped from their opening and came towards the Jabberwock, moving quickly for creatures that were supposed to be dead. The dragon immediately felt like he would vomit from the harsh stench of rotting flesh, and the sight of the zombies' exposed muscle and bone.

Closing his eyes tightly, the Jabberwock tried to imagine something, something to destroy the corpses. A weapon, another creature, something, _something _but no, the corpses even seemed to _multiply_…

The Heart Crystal.

Heart Crystal, you'll keep me safe…

Won't you?

The Jabberwock soared away from the corpses and towards the Heart Crystal, touching it gently with his claws, feeling the rough crystal edges.

"Please."

The Queen burst out of the ground, tentacles raised to the heavens.

**Why do you persist? Maybe I should leave you alone for a while, then you can come back when you have mastered your abilities.**

"This…ends...now."

**But I thought that you trusted me. That you looked upon me as an idol.**

"I was foolish…Alyss…"

**Alyss? I'm greater than Alyss. She only won over Queen Redd merely because of luck. I am wiser and far more experienced than her. I'm not trying to be a tyrant, I'm trying to help this Wonderland.**

He brought his hand closer to the Heart Crystal. "You're not Alyss."

**I've had enough of you. I've promised you everything, yet you are still eager to betray me.**

"You betrayed _me_."

Power.

The Heart Crystal brought him power. He had become the conduit, the vehicle designed to unleash the great energy that flowed from the crystal.

Wonderland's saviour.

She tried to gain some for herself, her slimy tentacle wrapping around the treasured crystal.

**You fear the truth. You live in shadows.**

"I'm the one that deserves the power…"

The Red Queen smirked.** Why?**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Touching the Heart Crystal, that bringer of creation, that symbol of glorious eras in that Wonderland, images transmitted themselves into the mind of the Jabberwock, a strange sea of faces and creatures cascading right in front of his eyes.

First, images of his Wonderland threw themselves right at him, starting off as a tolerable place, yet still with an air of thin menace lurking around every corner. The Hatter drunk tea with his friends. The Duchess rocked her baby. The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle danced. The Cheshire Cat smiled. The twins fought.

The Queen barked and ordered executions.

Then the ticking of a clock filled the air, with the imprint of the clock in his mind's eye. The ticking grew faster, faster and the clock's hands spun around like a typhoon, until the clock disappeared and became the Wonderland the Jabberwock was more accustomed to.

The Hatter made robots, tore out creature's organs and replaced them with makeshift machinery, believing it an improvement. The Duchess screamed and sliced her baby into ribbons. The Gryphon lay behind bars and the Mock Turtle wept at the fractured state of the new world he wound up in. The Cheshire Cat still smiled. The twins still fought.

The Queen still barked.

The Queen monstrously roars and lies to you.

Then came a flurry of the images from the Looking Glass Maze; grinning malicious Alice, insane children, the Hatter again, and the white-haired Hatter and the tomato-nosed Hatter…

Then a single image from the other Wonderland…

* * *

_Both Alyss and Redd may have been strengthened by their proximity to the Heart Crystal, but Alyss could see that she was the stronger of the two. It must have dawned on Redd too because, frustrated and annoyed beyond all measure, she gave up on her fancy imaginings and ran at Alyss with sceptre raised._

_They brandished their sceptres like swords, two powerful warriors engaged in good old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat. The space above and around them glittered and popped and sizzled and smoked with the thunderstorm of their imaginative powers. Then, with the speed of a gwynook's flapping wing, Alyss hooked the white heart of her sceptre and yanked the latter to the floor, where she exploded it with a jolt of white hot imaginative energy._

Do I kill or…but what's to be done with her if I don't? She'll pose a threat as long as she lives. What should I do? What should I –

* * *

Kill her Alyss, just kill her. KILL HER LIKE YOU DID ALICE.

* * *

_Redd balled her hands into fists, making fleshy clubs of them._

"_I'm stronger than you are, Redd."_

"_You will not defeat me!" Redd screamed._

_Alyss braced herself for another attack, realising only too late what was happening. She watched with disbelieving eyes as Redd launched herself into the Heart Crystal._

_Krrrrrkkkkchsss! Hissszzzzll! Krrrch! Zzzzssszz! _

_

* * *

_

Those sounds, the hissing, the crackling, they were alive, and the Jabberwock heard them clearly. Not through the strange imagery the crystal gave him, but the sounds, whatever made them was happening _right now_.

Queen Redd appeared.

Oh yes, that's it. Ha ha ha. This confirms it. The appearance of _her_ arch-nemesis confirms it all. Everybody likes to laugh at the Jabberwock. He only exists to be mocked.

**Ah. If it isn't my copy. I was almost hoping you would join us.**

Redd smiled.

**I suppose you want to fight me and take control of this world so you can run it into the ground.**

Although a grisly smile lit her face, exposing her black fangs, her voice sounded somewhat serious. "Actually, yes. But first I would like to have a few words with that dragon over there."

The minute she said those words time froze.

**Fine. I'll wait.**

The Red Queen's body stopped jiggling as she turned away from her counterpart in this world…

Who wanted the Jabberwock.

Why?

To exploit him and his powers? No, no, that can't be it, it _can't _be. To apologise? Maybe she learnt her lesson, yes, please. Wait if she did learn her lesson, she could do something to him for killing Alyss, or perhaps she's angry because she didn't get the chance to kill Alyss herself and she wanted to oh no oh no help …

"Thank you."

What?

"You have allowed me to take my intended position in this world, and have spared it of that obnoxious brat."

The Jabberwock shuddered in anger. He wanted to kill her right on the spot, to feel her blood drip on his claws. Both Red Queens should feel his pain.

He restrained himself though. He was curious.

"The Heart Crystal gave me immortality. It gave me _power_. The only problem was _how to get out_. I was given a chance to escape, but the problem was I had to choose someone to do it for me…"

"Why me?"

"The Heart Crystal gave me power, but it was limited, so its power could only affect the person I chose…"

"Why me?"

"So I got you to fight for me by impersonating Alyss, putting you through a Looking Glass Maze, making you organic…"

"_Why me you…_"

"Calm down." I actually do as she commands. "I chose _you_ because you and I were the _closest_…"

The Jabberwock snorted. "What do you mean?"

"I have more in common with you than I do with that giant blob thing. Both of us have suffered and are ridiculed for enduring it. My birthright was taken from me and they expected me to just accept it! The nerve!"

He had suffered. He was ridiculed. Why not listen to her?

"You and I. We are seen as monsters, when the true monsters are the ones who gain respect, the ones who are revered and do away with those who _should_ rule."

She pointed directly at the other Queen, the one who had her back turned, the ferocious beast who only wanted them to suffer.

**Are you two finished?**

"Give us some more time."

**Very well.**

Redd turned to the Jabberwock, and the ballroom disappears.

_I am in a battlefield, one without a battle. One _after _a battle. People lay dead, their bodies torn in two, heads separated from bodies, what should be corpses are gory piles._

_I place my finger into the blood. I love it. I love the way it drips from my fingertips and how it runs down into my palm like a snail. I love its taste, the way it explodes on my tongue, the way it feels so_ **alive.**

"Yes," said Queen Redd, "we want our enemies to perish. It's their own damn fault they died; they now have to face the pain we endured due to them. You murdered the entire Wonderland army, they deserved to die, didn't they?"

The battlefield disappeared. Redd moved closer to the Jabberwock and ran her fingers across his recently-attained ribs. Rubbing against his stomach, she felt his heartbeat.

"You are a truly beautiful creature."

She brought his head closer to hers, her warm fingers wiping away wet saliva.

"We can defeat her…

"_Together_."

He turned towards the other Queen. "We're ready."

**Good.**

In a matter of a millisecond, she turned to face her two opponents with her fiery yellow eyes, opening her mouth to allow a thick beam of energy to escape. They leapt from it immediately and somersaulted on the floor.

**What do you intend to do?**

They were the conduit, the vehicle designed to unleash the great energy that flowed from the crystal.

Wonderland's saviors.

Both of them work to defeat the Queen by unleashing hordes of roses, their vines trapping her, wrapping around her, pricking her gelatinous skin, as ripe blood dripped slowly…

She screamed in pain. She roared angrily. She wanted the pain to stop, she wanted the torture to end, she _actually thought she didn't deserve this_.

How _hilarious_.

Both of them guffawed insanely at what she went through, how she finally gained what had been coming to her, how she learned the price of her actions, how there was finally an iota of justice in the world at last.

The vines contracted, yes, they wrapped tighter and tighter and tighter, the thorns elongated and pricked her deeper, the vines _squeezed, _they tightly clenched the Queen as if she were a giant frog, her blood, her _blood_ began to leak from her body, her screams grew frailer and more high-pitched.

Music to their ears…

**Noooo**oooo_ooo_

She shrunk.

She eventually shrunk away into a worthless little nothing. A tiny little bug just cowering on the floor. As the vines, the thorns, the flowers evaporated into thin air, her former minion approached her. He smirked.

_Please please pleasepleaseplease don't do this Redd's evil_

Splat.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Applause was the first sound heard after the Red Queen's defeat.

Queen Redd smiled from ear to ear. "Well done."

The Jabberwock, however, did not seem grateful for this praise. After smearing the Red Queen down to a miniature stain on the floor, he fell to his knees and buried his head in his claws. Thanks to him, everything had gone wrong, and problems had been made worse. Redd was all the proof he needed for that accusation.

So now what? He had lost the book; it must have been destroyed with the old Wonderland. Although, it was the very item that started all this mess, so if he never saw it again, it would be too soon.

_"And has thou slain the Jabberwock?_

_Come to my arms, my beamish boy!_

_O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay!"_

_He chortled in his joy._

That's it; he should just end it all. So what if he died? It would be rejoiced! He had his organic body back; he could do the deed. Find some crystal and watch the blood flow. Before all this happened, when he resided in that derelict house on the mountain, he wished for death every day…or would he just be taking the easy way out?

Redd put her hand on his shoulder, which made his face twist into a horrid grimace. "You know I don't trust you."

Her smile grew wider. "I know."

The Jabberwock leapt from the floor and gave a cold stare to the so-called savior. "How can I be certain that you won't betray me? That I was not merely a pawn in your plan to reclaim Wonderland? That you can manipulate emotions like the Red Queen and that all those nice things you told me weren't genuine?"

She didn't answer. At least not instantly. At least not verbally.

His entire body began to contract until he dwindled down to her size, still baring his reptilian scales, his mighty wings, his lashing tail moving rhythmically, his sharp claws. The entire ballroom seemed to disappear, the entire Wonderland seemed to disappear. All that existed at that moment was Redd, resembling an angel in crimson. Each step she took seemed to last hours, her being in short proximity to him is something he had been waiting impatiently for.

She wrapped her arms around his back, her fingers drumming on his shoulder blades, her delicate hand clenching his rough claw. She instantly overpowered him as they twirled around the ballroom, watching the entire world around them rotate slowly.

Hadn't they only met for a few minutes?

No, no they hadn't, she was in his mind, she gave him back his body, she helped him face my fears, she did more than…

She made everything appropriate. The walls began to gleam a warm pink, mixing her namesake and purity together. The colours begin to lap and wobble in a way only waves do, performing a dance to accommodate theirs, ghosts trapped in a sentinent continuum.

The Hatters appeared to ruin their fun, that miserable biomechanical Hatter wrapped in a strait-jacket, the white-haired Hatter with unbirthday plans and the tomato-nosed Hatter who incessantly changes his headwear. All three of them exploded into microscopic pieces, revealing themselves as mere illusions. They spared a moment to laugh.

Resuming their poetry in motion, he wrapped his claws around her waist, and lifted her into the air, spinning her around in the atmosphere. He placde her down gently.

Instantly, the world they temporarily entered, the world of pink gleaming light and wonder, disappeared into a ballroom, and they both collapsed, laughing.

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you."

She ran her finger down his ribs again. She placed her hand on his scaly lips. She placed her hands all over his body, feeling each bone, each pulse, each part.

She can do anything.

"I cannot thank you enough. You have restored me to my former majestic form…"

She touched his lips once again.

She can do anything.

They instantly grabbed each other and their faces touched in a fierce embrace, their tongues playfully wrestling with each other

She can make life perfect.

Make life perfect.

She released him.

Perfect life.

Perfect.

_P…e…r…f…e…c…_

_

* * *

_

"Bibwit!"

Bibwit walked slowly into the throne room, shuddering with every step. First that news of another Wonderland where he died, then Alyss' death, poor Alyss, poor Alyss, now _her_ returning.

"Y-your h…Imperial Viciousness."

"Take a look out of the window."

He slowly crept towards the window, eyes fixed on the exterior of Heart Palace.

"What can you tell me about what's outside?"

Bibwit said nothing.

"That, out there, is Wonderland. How should it be kept?"

Bibwit still remained silent.

"It should be kept under my control. Now go to bed. Tomorrow you will begin your new duties."

As Bibwit walked away, he massaged his temples. He should have foreseen Redd's return with news of this other Wonderland invading, and that world having him squashed, and the legendary Hatter Madigan warped into a maniac. He was getting too old for all of this…

Queen Redd watched that miserable former tutor of hers depart then lifted herself off her seat. She stepped slowly away from the throne room, into the corridor, through another doorway.

She stared with pride at her newest accomplishment.

Standing ten foot tall and with blazing eyes of unforgiving rage, her newest, and most powerful, member of her army of Black Imagination looked a force to be reckoned with. It wore black armor adorned with twisted hearts, but its arms were bare, reveling deep green scales that gleamed in Redd's aura.

"You're all mine."

It bowed. "I know."


End file.
